Celebrating Indigenous Nurses Day with Six Nations Polytechnic

Indigenous nurses, nurses who support Indigenous communities and Indigenous nursing students serve as front-line advocates for Indigenous patients and help bridge traditional healing practices and Western medicine.

by Madelin Moses, School of Nursing

Posted on May 11, 2023

For Marshall Patterson, celebrating Indigenous nurses is not only important, it’s intensely personal.

“All the matriarchs in my family were nurses and caregivers, so I’m proud of that,” says the McMaster School of Nursing master’s student. “I want to help to carry that torch and being Indigenous is part of that.”

Marshall was among a group of Indigenous nurses, nurses who support Indigenous communities and Indigenous nursing students at an event intended to honour and celebrate Indigenous Nurses Day.

The event, co-hosted by the Indigenous Health Learning Lodge (IHLL) and Six Nations Polytechnic (SNP) on May 9th, took place at the SNP Ohsweken Campus.